Professional thieves in Milan, Italy heisted millions of dollars worth of computer technology containing an innovative new digital wardrobe system being developed for retail stores, says the technology’s developer, Italy’s Hypersoft Srl (Ltd).

Massimo Barbieri, the Ferrara-based company’s sales and marketing director, contacted me today to say the theft is devastating to his company, which has been working on the technology for four years.

He says the theft occurred inside the Italian headquarters of Cisco Systems Inc. in Milan. It appears to have been the work of professional thieves, he says, because they managed to bypass company’s video and other security systems. Nothing else was stolen, he says, “in a building saturated with technology and computers, monitored 24 hours a day with cameras and controlled access at the entrance.”

Cisco representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Theft of intellectual property is a growing problem in the apparel industry, where new technology is being incorporated into everything from textile design to retailing methods. It’s a huge issue in Italy, which is a center of research and development in high end apparel.

The technology stolen in Milan was a system that allowed shoppers to look into a store’s virtual closet using a large touch screen, choosing and styling outfits that could then pulled from racks and tried on in a dressing room.

“Apparently someone has understood the value and instead of a partnership preferred to steal,” said Mr. Barbieri. “They (took) the entire software (intellectual property) of our Digital Wardrobe. For us it was an enormous loss!”